Fur Elisë
by proser132
Summary: Sora is a blind piano player who is trapped in his home by his abusive mom. Riku is a drifting healer who is moved by the music pouring from the house on Spinnet Lane. Can he heal Sora, who's never spoken to another human being? Soriku fluff - review!


_A/N: __**Hello, my friendlies! How is you on this fine day? I decided to write this fic after reading another fic called "Tune of Heart" or something like that. And it was **__**amazing**_**. Like, **_**really **_**amazing. But anywho, it inspired this piano-centric fic. Except, this one, there is no Tune of Heart, Sora actually has talent, Riku still does magic (of a different kind), there is still Soriku sweetness. So, let's get to the story?**

**Delicious.**

**Without further ado, I present my piano-centric fic.**

**~*****·*****~**

**Fur Elis****ë**

**~*****·*****~**

_Da-da da-da dadumdadadum, dadadadum, dadadadum, da-da da-da dadumdadadum…_

The strains of Fur Elisë floated through the air in the small town neighborhood. The neighbors hummed along pleasantly; this was normal from the house at the end of the street, where a fifteen year-old boy was practically a piano virtuoso. It was a sweet tune, and by far his favorite. He played many others, varying them, as if he knew that the townspeople listened to his playing, but he always returned to Fur Elisë. They didn't mind, though. What they _did_ mind is that nobody had ever seen him. In Italy, tight-knit communities were the norm. When someone had lived for fifteen years in their midst, and nobody knew them?

It was bound to cause trouble.

Probably in the form of someone his age who was a little too curious.

Speculation was rife on this topic - as it is wont to do in small towns with mysteries. Was he just a boy who lived by himself? Or, in the more popular theory, it was a controlling mother who kept him inside. Several years beforehand, a small boy had tried the door - only to find it locked. Something strange was going on in that house, the town council warned. But nobody dared go and ask, or check. Their Piano Man - as they called him - was seemingly content to remain a mystery. Though he was never seen, he had helped hundreds; drug addicts, alcoholics, gamblers, and numerous people down on their luck had come to get away from their troubles, and were now upstanding members of the community. Each and every one of them claimed it was the music that had changed them, uplifting their hearts and making them see clearly. Then, it was ironic that someone so helpful so desperately needed their help…

~*·*~

"Sora!" his mother shouted. "You left your sheet music on the couch again - one more time, and I'll nail shut the window in the piano room." Sora looked up, eyes misted over with a film that made the blue irises look ten shades paler. The blind musician stood up and walked over to the couch in the other room, expertly avoiding the coffee table and armchair that had been moved seconds before. His mom's voice took on a disappointed air.

"How do you do that?" She asked, frustrated. He shrugged and went back into the piano room. 

His mom enjoyed moving the furniture and calling him in, to see if he would trip. She couldn't stand him, calling him a screw up and retard when he made any kind of mistake, bemoaning men and their uselessness. But she wouldn't let him leave the house, saying, "You've made my life a living hell, you fuck up, so you get to stay here with me."

Sora had learned (the hard way, he supposed) that being passive and letting her just vent earned him less punishment. It wasn't supposed to be this way, he thought, but it must be how everyone raised their kids. He sat on the bench, letting the warm sunlight illuminate his fingers; they were long, slender, the pads calloused from playing the piano since he was two. His life wasn't the worst. He could read, because of the Braille library he kept in the piano room (the only room he was allowed in, other than the den, the bathroom, and the kitchen. He used it for a bedroom, as well.) It was also the only room that had un-nailed windows. He liked this, because his mom was practically _afraid_ of sunlight, so she almost never came in. The window pointed to the woods outside of town, which everyone avoided. It was open in spring, summer, and fall, letting breezes and cool air in when it was hot and keeping the heat in when it was cold. His fingers began to pick out a tune that he had been working on; a scale climb arpeggio in A minor, then a quick flit of notes in the upper C major like a flute, swinging down to an upbeat swing, with several more arpeggios, except in D major. He played through this, not really thinking. His fingers continued to play, and the recorder sitting on the piano top caught it so he could write it down later. He was still thinking of himself, trying to put himself in a summary. His dad had run off when he was born, supposedly disappointed that his son was born blind - but Sora had a sneaking suspicion that it was his insane mom who caused him to leave. His dad had been Italian, but his mom was American. Sora had dual citizenship, but had never left Italy. In fact, he could never remember a day he had spent outside - or an hour, or a minute. He didn't mind, because he had his music; but he would have liked to run in the woods outside, just once. But he was blind, or so his mom thought. His ears were almost hyper-sensitive, and by playing his music, the echoes told him where everything was. That was how he never tripped when his mom rearranged the furniture, and never got lost in the house. He "saw" everything in his home. He kept playing, but the song itself took on a mournful air; and the neighbors outside actually felt tears leak from their eyes.

~*·*~

Riku pushed the door to the apothecary open, stepping outside in the July air. A song met his ears - it was very sorrowful, as if someone was trapped. He felt his heart give an odd little tug. He looked questioningly at the woman on the bench next to the door, who was keeping time with the beautiful music. She smiled serenely.

"It's the Piano Man - he lives at the end of Spinnet Lane, alone, I think." She opened her eyes to reveal milky white irises and pale gray pupils. She was blind, yet she appeared to be looking at him intently. "He's been there for fifteen years, and playing for thirteen. No one knows who he is, what he looks like, why he plays. Wait a few minutes - he'll play Fur Elisë." And sure enough, three minutes later, the tune drifted from the longing sound to a familiar sound. 

_Da-da da-da dadumdadadum, dadadadum, dadadadum, da-da da-da dadumdadadum…_

Riku thought the music was gorgeous. He was a drifter, a healer, so he wasn't one for critiquing. But it sounded like this music had the power to heal people, just as sure as he did.

"A healer, are you?" she said pleasantly. "So's he. If you two could meet, I think you could change the world, if you put your mind to it."

"Do you want me to help you see again?" He asked kindly, the sweet old crone assuming an expression of surprise. 

"Again? I've been blind my whole life. I think the shock would kill me." She said, standing up and hobbling away. He smiled gently, but then froze. _I had __**looked**__ at her to ask my question - and her eyes had been closed, and she's blind. How the hell -_ He looked for her, but she had disappeared without a trace. He shook his head in wonder, then set off for this Spinnet Lane. He'd think of an excuse on the way there.

He arrived on the dead-end road and saw there was a wood, so he'd have the excuse of looking for herbs. He had to use that excuse five times before he reached the forest, and had the Piano Man's story explained six times. He slipped into the forest, taking a roundabout route to the back of the large house painted a depressing grey. He saw (with some surprise) that the window was open. An soaring scale climb made his heart leap into his throat, from the beauty, than started a triumphant melody with what sounded like two underlying harmonies. He snuck up to the window, and peered over the sill, wondering why no one had thought of this before. An astonishing sight met his aquamarine eyes. A fifteen year-old boy was seated at the bench, eyes wide open and staring straight ahead, fingers flying over the keys delicately. The boy was blind, it seemed, but his playing certainly made up for it. Riku thought to himself that this had to be talent - no one could learn this level of genius. It slowed to mezzo piano, then piano, and finally stopped. Riku was absolutely silent. 

"Who's there?" The boy's voice said uncertainly. Riku flinched and cracked a twig when he took a step back. The boy stood in one fluid motion, and made his way, surely, over to the window, until he and Riku were looking at each other - figuratively, of course. Riku gulped.

"I'm not mad!" the boy said cheerfully. "You're the first person I've spoken to who wasn't my mom." Riku let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"I'm Riku," he said hesitantly. The boy gave a grin that was as beautiful as he was - if any boy was beautiful, it was the one before him, Riku thought vaguely.

"Come in!" He smiled again. Riku gave him a weird look, then remembered he couldn't see it. The boy got the gist, though.

"Just come in through the window, Riku." he said, exasperated. "I'm Sora." Happy to connect a name to the boy in front of him, he hopped up Sora's windowsill and sat on it. Sora stepped back and smiled again. _Damn that smile…_he thought, heart melting. 

"Why are you here, Ri-ku?" Sora murmured. Riku grinned sheepishly.

"Um a-actually, I was collecting herbs…" He stammered. Sora laughed, and it was a beautiful sound.

"Hey, want to hear me play?" He said excitedly. Riku said a quiet yes and stifled a laugh at the younger's energy as he bounced back over to the piano. Riku followed him gingerly. The room was large and colored like sunlight. Tall book shelves lined the walls, and when he pulled a book out, he realized it was written in Braille. He looked over to where the piano sat, gleaming; Sora evidently took care of his piano. In one corner, a neat bed was placed, with a large and soft quilt. Sora sat down at the bench in front of the baby grand, and immediately, a different expression came over him. It was one of a quiet, intense joy, but slightly bittersweet. His fingers settled over the keys almost subconsciously. When he began to play, it was a sweet, happy song - one that almost made Riku laugh. But the seriousness on Sora's face tempered his laughter - it was almost apprehensive. He suddenly cringed and the music took on a faster, more panicked note.

"Hide!" He hissed. Riku looked at him blankly. "She's coming!" He said, hysteria creeping into his voice. Riku couldn't resist asking.

"Who?" He replied urgently. Sora stopped playing and pushed him behind the piano, and had started playing again when the door flew open to reveal an angry woman. 

"I heard voices! Who were you talking to?" She yelled, and Riku winced; her voice was shrill and screechy, nothing like the honey-sweet, dulcet tones her son possessed.

"No one, mom - I've never spoken to another person - I wouldn't know what to say." Sora said, heart racing. She slapped him, and a stinging sensation spread from the point of contact out. He flinched.

"Don't piss me off, fuck up." She snarled, stalking out of the room. She slammed the door behind her.

"Sora …?" Riku whispered as he crept out from behind the piano. Sora's right cheek was flaming, and her nail had obviously caught his clear skin, because a trickle of blood ran from just under his eye down his face. "Sora, are you okay?" He gasped. He fingered Sora's face, studying the cut professionally. It wasn't bad - though it was abnormally deep. Sora waved him off, face now resembling a tomato.

"I'm fine - this happens daily. Crazy bitch…" he muttered angrily, then froze as he realized what he said. "I didn't mean to say that!" He said, eyes wide. Riku resisted the urge to laugh again. He pressed his fingers to the cut, and Sora flinched. A small burst of warmth, and the cut healed itself. Sora's mouth dropped.

"What did you just do?" he gaped.

"Healed you." Riku said, Sora's chin still in his lithe fingers. Sora blushed a delightful pink color and started shoving poor Riku toward the open window. 

"You have to leave!" He said stubbornly. Riku did laugh this time - and Sora shivered. He like Riku's laugh.

"Fine. But I'll be back - and I'll get you away from her. I swear." He said protectively. Sora's face took on a look of hope, but then his features blanked and he practically pushed Riku out of the window.

"Tomorrow - she goes to the market in Naples," he said, mentioning a city several hours away. "You can come then - she leaves at four AM and gets back at eight PM. Go!" Riku grasped Sora's hand and pressed his lips lightly to Sora's palm, surprised at his own daring. Sora gaped. Again.

"Tomorrow, then, So-ra." he said. Sora closed the window, but then leaned against the wall, weak-kneed and breathing hard, listening to Riku's foot steps as he disappeared back into the wood whence he came. He returned to his piano, playing with a lighter heart; there was hope today. 

And the neighbors, listening, could hear the hope in the music. As could Riku, who decided to camp in the woods, to be nearer to Sora, the blind musician.

~*·*~

"Sora, you idiot! Pay attention! I don't want you leaving your room, for anything. Am I understood?" She slapped him again and flung the his door open again, leaving his room. 

She slammed it before he could answer. It was about eleven - when she finally let him sleep. He turned after hitting the light switch and fell on his bed. The moonlight cast a gleam on the ground, and the room was full of shadows. Sora couldn't see them, but he could almost hear them - shuffling along the floor, swishing against the moonlight. One of his books had told him moonlight was silver-colored - a kind of shiny grey. Grey was another color he wouldn't recognize if it was ever pointed out to him, but he knew what silver _sounded _like, and how it felt. It sounded like Riku's voice, low and strong and reassuring; it felt like Riku's lips on his skin, and the warmth that pooled in his stomach when Riku had kissed his hand. His books had told him what a kiss was very loosely, and it certainly left out how it felt. Sora had never met anyone before - would he have liked anyone else as much as he liked Riku if he had met them first? He thought about this for a long time, before deciding that he couldn't have liked anyone as much as he liked Riku. Was it possible to like boys this way? All his prior knowledge (again, from his books) boys normally liked girls. Though the idea of him kissing a girl actually kind of freaked him out. He rolled onto his side, pulling his quilt over his body. Tonight would be an unusually sleepless night.

Riku lay in his sleeping bag, trying to sleep but not doing so well. The tent rustled with every passing breeze, and he shivered. His mind drifted back to Sora, and he felt his cheeks heat up. What had possessed him to kiss his hand, he'd never know. Something about the boy seemed vulnerable. His pale, porcelain skin had made it rather obvious he'd hadn't been outside much, if at all. But, something radiated from him, and his music - an inner strength, quiet and understated, but there, waiting for someone to reach out and find it. He thought desperately of someway to help Sora, any way he could. He remembered suddenly that Sora was blind; it was easy to forget this when you spoke to him, because he was so vibrant and colorful. He could heal him - give him his sight. Riku finally managed to sink into an uneasy sleep, dreaming of Sora's unclouded eyes.

~*·*~

When Sora woke up, he realized his mom had already left. The clock hanging on his wall chimed 7:00, and he shot up in bed. He stood up and got dressed, moving with the easy grace of someone who knows their surroundings intimately. He opened the window and breathed in the early morning air. He turned on his heel and walked to his piano, sitting down. He started to play a very familiar song.

_Da-da da-da dadumdadadum, dadadadum, dadadadum, da-da da-da dadumdadadum…_

A knock came at his window and he smiled, knowing who it was.

"Good morning, Riku." He said, fingers flying over the keys.

"Good morning, Sora." Riku replied, clambering inside. They fell silent whilst Sora played, and when the song ended, Riku sat beside him. Sora turned his blind eyes to Riku in surprise. 

"I know how to help you escape." Riku breathed into the silence between them. Sora jumped a little at his voice,

"How?" He couldn't keep the hope from his voice as he replied. Riku laughed and Sora shivered again. 

"Close your eyes." Riku said, his breath - which smelled of mint and sage - getting closer to Sora's face. Sora closed his eyes obligingly, heart beating so hard that he was sure Riku could hear it. It was silent for a minute, then another. Sora suddenly felt Riku's hand slip around his neck and entwine itself in his hair. He couldn't quash the blush creeping up his neck. Riku apparently saw this, and laughed again. 

"Stay calm - it won't hurt." He said. Sora nodded, eyes still closed.

Riku's breath caught in his throat when he saw Sora's expression - its pure trust, hope that he could possibly get out of here. Riku leaned closer.

"Stay calm, okay?" He heard Riku whisper again, and he grinned. Then he froze - Riku's lips swept over one eyelid, then the other, light and insubstantial as snowflakes, or raindrops. He opened his eyes in shock to Riku's aquamarine ones searching his, silver hair falling in a curtain over his face, looking at Sora like he was something perfect, something wonderful.

Oh, god.

He could _see_!

He leapt up, reveling in the colors of his room, outside, Riku's eyes, his hair, his lips…

"Sora… you're kind of, um, _staring_," Riku said uncomfortably, flushing a pale pink. It reminded Sora of some flowers that were growing on an ivy vine, crawling up the side of his window. He held up a finger and leaned out over the sill, telling Riku to wait. He plucked one of the pretty flower clusters and turned back to Riku, threading the flower gently through his hair. Riku felt his skin catching fire as the fingers slid softly across his temple. The flower complimented the silver and accented the aquamarine in his eyes. 

"Sora…?" Riku breathed. Sora shivered again with joy. He loved it when Riku said his name.

"Riku… I think I love you," He said unblushingly. Riku, on the other hand, darkened to a red hue. 

"Sora, you don't say that to someone you just met." He said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Sora smiled beautifully, and Riku couldn't hide a answering smile.

"What if it's true?" He said obstinately. Riku darkened another few shades (if that was possible).

"Sora -"

"I love you." Sora said it so simply, as if it had always been the truth, as if he'd never had a doubt.

"Sora… I…" Riku was confused. He had only known Sora for a day, maybe two - but he already couldn't imagine leaving him behind. Sora's face fell. His eyes, now a brilliant sapphire blue, dulled, losing some of their light.

"You don't love me back." He said it simply, too. His heart was shattering, but he stood there, waiting for Riku's answer. It wasn't long - actually, it was almost instantaneous.

"That's not true! I love you so much I can't stand it!" He replied without thinking. Realizing what he just said, he buried his head in his hands. He had never been more embarrassed in his life. Small, slender fingers pried his hands apart, and he looked up into Sora's eyes - eyes he did, indeed, love. He reached out and took Sora's chin in his own fingers, one hand still clutched in his small hand. 

"Sora." He said, unable to tear his eyes away from Sora's piercing gaze. Sora sat on the bench, next to him, lashes framing the infinite blue. Riku had once been to the sea, and that is what he thought of as he leaned in. He pressed his lips lightly, softly, against Sora's, watching him close his eyes in happiness. Encouraged, Riku let his hands lower to his neck, pulling Sora practically onto his lap. He deepened the kiss considerably, nibbling on Sora's lower lip until he opened his mouth with a content sigh. He explored gently the space between Sora's lips, his tongue, and Sora's hands came to rest on his shoulders. They clenched when Riku moved his mouth to his neck, his collarbone; he pressed his teeth lightly against the skin, stretched taut over the bone, and Sora made a noise deep in his throat. Riku brushed his lips against the hollow at the base of his throat, and went back to his lips, kissing him ardently. Sora moaned.

"Take me with you," He said, mouths so close that Riku felt rather than heard Sora's words. He nodded, and Sora finally got off of him. He stood and stretched, lips swollen, and Sora's mouth quirked as if he wanted to grin. 

"So many firsts," He murmured. When Riku looked at him, he explained, "My first friend, my first love, first sight, first kiss - and soon, first time I leave this house." Riku leaned down and planted a kiss, intimate and romantic, on Sora's mouth, leaving him breathless. 

"My firsts - first kiss, first love, first time I've healed something that bad. Sora, you're too many firsts." He laughed, and soon, Sora joined him.

~*·*~

I want to say they lived happily ever after.

Unfortunately, nobody lives forever.

~*·*~

Epilogue

"Dad! Dad!!!" Sora stopped playing momentarily to look at his son, Roxas. "I want to tell Axel I love him but I don't know how because he is _soo_ clueless and I need an idea and Dad said come to you but you don't seem to be helping and I love him so much and help me!!!" He wailed. Sora groaned and rolled his eyes. 

"Your father can't do anything, can he?" He said, exasperated. "Try writing him a song - you've got a voice, don't you?"

"But that's embarrassing! He's practically blind, and what if I sang it and he didn't figure it out?" Roxas ranted. Sora flinched at the word 'blind'.

"Roxas, did I ever tell you about my childhood?" He asked the fifteen year-old. Roxas' eyes widened and Axel was momentarily forgotten as Roxas' favorite subject to needle his dad about was brought up. "I was born blind." He sighed, and Roxas' mouth dropped.

"But, Dad, you can see perfectly!" He said in shock. Sora ignored him and continued.

"I had never seen anything - and was kept in a house my whole life. I had never been outside. All I had to my name was a piano. I started playing when I was two, and for thirteen years, I enchanted the small town I lived in with music. I healed people, I brought luck, and I was known as the Piano Man - and not once did I step outside. Then, when I was fifteen, your father, a drifter at sixteen, came to town and was the first person to be brave enough to see who made the music. Within a day, we had fallen in love. He healed my blindness with a kiss. And I left the abusive woman who had raised me, traveled for five years, and then she died of a psychotic episode. This piano room was the same one I lived in for fifteen years, and this is the piano that was still in the room when we came to inherit the house. And then we adopted you." Roxas was openly staring at his father. Shaking his head, he said,

"Yeah, okay; I'm really surprised now, but what does this have to do with me and Axel?" 

"It has everything to do with you and Axel. It means that even if things seem to be going badly, everything will end okay." Sora explained gently. Roxas nodded in wonder.

"Vocal or instrumental?" He said absentmindedly. Sora grinned.

"Vocal - because you don't practice the piano often enough." Roxas nodded again and wandered off, muttering something about a pen and pad of paper. Sora grinned and turned back to the piano -

Only to have Riku's arms wrap around him and a kiss placed on his cheek.

"You're absolutely useless, you know." Sora said dryly. Riku laughed, and because his chest was pressed firmly into his back, Sora felt it.

"So you tell me." He said lightly. Sora chuckled and nuzzled Riku's neck, arms coming up to entwine around it.

"Do you think he'll do it?" Sora asked. He felt Riku nod.

"He's hopeless when it comes to Axel - has been since the day they met. And he probably won't rest until he has Axel in _some _compromising situation." Riku shrugged. Sora laughed again and Riku released him. He turned back to the piano and began to play a song that the entire town knew by heart…

_Da-da da-da dadumdadadum, dadadadum, dadadadum, da-da da-da dadumdadadum…_

~*·*~

End


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